Teaching Revision with our North Pole Designs

Day 3:

Last Friday, I introduced the North Pole Project to my class with the press release about the major earthquake at the North Pole, and a letter enlisting the students help in designing and rebuilding to insure Christmas Eve deliveries will take place as scheduled.  This anticipatory set had the students buzzing about the assignment and eager to get started on Monday morning.  Here's a link if you would like to read more about this:  http://beyondthegardengateclass.blogspot.com/2013/12/its-perfect-time-to-capture-our.html

Associated Press Newsflash: 

Major  earthquake has struck the North Pole!  All inhabitants have been relocated to Red Cross Emergency Centers, and will not be able to return for any reason, until the entire area has been rebuilt! 

For those who believe in Santa Clause this may have a slight impact on Christmas deliveries.

We will keep you updated on any news developments.

On Monday, the students were given the elves' requirements for the North Pole design.  They began the process of laying out the location of the various requirements, trying to honor the requests of the elves.  The focus here was creativity.  This seemed quite easy, and the students were happy with their designs.  You can read more about this at:  http://beyondthegardengateclass.blogspot.com/2013/12/designing-north-pole-let-creativity-soar.html

Yesterday, we added the reindeer' requirements to the mix.  This is when the students began to realize that they were going to have to categorize items, and move things around a bit.  Some problem solving was required, but they worked through it and were pleased with their results.  You can read more about this at:  http://beyondthegardengateclass.blogspot.com/2013/12/problem-solving-design-of-north-pole.html

So what did I have up my sleeve today?  Well revision of course!  Revision is not just for writing, and I find that it is easier to get my students to truly revise their writing when I have them practice the skill in other areas as well.  

The students were given the requirements of Santa & Mrs. Clause.  This was a much larger list, with quite a bit more specifics.  Unfortunately, there is no way to meet all of these requirements without doing some substantial revision.  Things must be moved to meet these new specifications. I wonder how that happened? 

Often in writing, students are quite attached to the words on their page, and they just can't seem to bring themselves to change them.  But with this project, the new requirements are fun and such an integral part of the North Pole community.  The students just dig in without a single complaint! 

The students will need to get their designs approved and then they will be able to begin building tomorrow.  I'll let you know how their designs look tomorrow - I'm anxious to see them myself! 

Creativity, Problem Solving, Revision, and fun!  

What could be better?

Keeping Everyone Happy - Problem Solving to Make a Design of the North Pole

Day 2:

So, yesterday my class started to design their layouts for the North Pole using the requirements of the elves.  The students were having a great time, and everything seemed quite straight forward and easy. But wait - nothing easy lasts forever in this classroom!!!!

So, today we added the requirements of the reindeer.  Many of the student partner groups simply got a new piece of paper and started a whole new design.  Really?  You think it's just that easy?

Oh no, no!!!  There is one North Pole community and all elements must be incorporated into one design.  The elves and the reindeer coexist together, and there are many things they enjoy doing together, but they also need their own unique spaces.  Everyone needs to be able to get around easily, but all requirements need to be incorporated into the design.  Ahhh...you are going to have to think a little harder and do some problem solving!  Darn it anyway!

I just love when those puzzled looks suddenly disappear - and the light bulb goes on!  What a fun day of problem solving and discovery!

• Hey, we can group things into categories! 
• Some things should not be in the town square, but should be on the outskirts of town!
• The reindeer are much larger than the elves, we need to incorporate that into our design!

It is so much fun watching the students discover their "Ah Ha's!"  And just wait until tomorrow when Santa & Mrs. Clause add a whole huge list of requirements of their own!  This is revision on an entirely new level!  

How to keep everyone happy?  This is problem solving at its finest!

Designing the North Pole - Let the Creativity Soar!

This week's blog entries will all cover my class' journey of creativity and design of the North Pole.  If you didn't read my last entry, I described the project that we are doing.  If you like what you see, your class can join us - this project is available at my TPT store.

Okay, today my students got into the project by analyzing the elves' requirements, and beginning a starting layout for the North Pole.  They are really loving this project, and it is so much fun listening to them as they discuss where the reindeer back riding trails should be, or the locations for the elves's housing.

I always feel I can tell how engaged my students are with a project by the length and depth of their discussions.  Today, they weren't only discussing their designs as they left for lunch, but they were still talking about it when they came back in after lunch!  I'd say they are in it this time!

Tomorrow, they will take a look at the reindeer' requirements, and start incorporating them together.  Too bad the elves and the reindeer don't always agree!  Oh well, I guess they'll work it out somehow!

Stay tuned in tomorrow, and I'll let you know some of the strategies they use!

Let the creativity soar!

It's the Perfect Time to Capture Our Student's Imaginations & Creativity!

Imagine It...                                   

   Design It...

       Create It...                            

I just love this time of year in the classroom!  I know...the student's minds are already half way out the door for the Winter Break...which could be so frustrating if we don't change up our teaching style.  

So...let's change it up!  I don't mean spend an entire two weeks on fluff with no educational value.  No, not at all.  This is the time of year that I like to capture the imaginations of my students.  

On Friday, I gave my students a press release about a major earthquake at the North Pole.  Everyone has been evacuated to Red Cross Shelters - which may affect Santa's deliveries, since no work can take place at the North Pole.  Gasp!  Moan!

Next, I gave them a letter sent to them from Santa, the elves and the reindeer, enlisting their help in designing and rebuilding the North Pole quickly so they can get back to work and make sure children everywhere will get their Christmas morning deliveries!  

So far, I have only let them choose a partner to work with.

Tomorrow, I will give the students the Elves' requirements so  they can begin to lay out a design for the North Pole.  Sounds easy enough, right?  But there is a catch...on Tuesday they will receive the reindeer's requirements, which may conflict slightly with the Elves! And on Wednesday they will need to figure in the requirements of Santa & Mrs. Clause.  Keeping everyone happy is going to be a bit of a challenge!  But, that's life, right?

Students will not begin to build their North Pole models until they get their designs approved by me, and that can't happen until all the requirements are met.  Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Common Core all incorporated in one fun, fun project!!!

My students are so excited, and can't wait to get started.  But there is a little problem for me, as well! I have two students that do not celebrate Christmas.  I don't want them to feel funny or left out, so I have created an entire alternate project for the South Pole.  Instead of Santa & Mrs. Clause there are the DoGoods - who kinda resemble old hippies!  The DoGoods perform good deeds for people all year long.  Of course they don't have a sleigh with flying reindeer - that's just ridiculous!  No, they have penguins that transport them around the world in the magical underwater DoGood Mobile!  And since there is no Santa's Workshop, they don't need elves!  But they do have gnomes that work in their "Making Dreams Come True" Workshop.  All of the fun, critical thinking, problem solving, and Common Core is still in place for these students as well.

Do you want to give it a try?  Go to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store - I've put it all together so you can use this project with your class as well!  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Beyond-The-Garden-Gate-Shari-Bithell

Thanksgiving Week Idea #4 - My Family's Favorite Cranberry Recipe!

And here it is...

Shari's Cranberry and Pear Crisp

(I always make a double recipe, which fits a 14" x 8" casserole dish.  This is the amounts for a single recipe - 9" x 9" casserole dish)  - The topping has already been doubled - so you don't need to worry about that!

Filling:

1 bag of fresh cranberries

2 large pears, unpeeled and sliced

1 cup sugar (don't cut the sugar - you will be sorry!)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1 stick of softened butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup chopped nuts

2 T flour

Mix filling ingredients and place in a greased 9" x 9" baking dish.

Cut together topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of fruit filling.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.  Let it cool for about 10 minutes before you serve it.

You can serve this warm or cold. 

We use it as a side dish, but it can also be a dessert.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Week Idea #3 - Have Fun With Listening and Writing

Your Students Become Police Sketch Artists to Aid the Police in Catching "Terrence the Terrorist Turkey"  Before He Ruins Thanksgiving for Everyone!

This is one of my favorite activities for Thanksgiving week.  My students love this one so much that I have packaged it as a Teachers Pay Teachers product, so everyone can enjoy it with their class!

As with all of my Criminal Character products, there is a fun story that requests your students help in catching a dastardly criminal out to ruin the holiday for everyone.  Your students are recruited as police sketch artists to help save the day!

All of these Criminal Character activities require good listening skills, as the students need to listen to the witness description and then create a sketch that the police can use to catch the bad guy!  The product includes note taking sheets, a wanted poster template for their illustrations, and a follow-up writing activity in which the students retell the story from the criminal's point of view.

This is a fun activity for your class, but very Common Core aligned for you!

If you are interested, check out "Criminal Turkey" along with my other Criminal Characters products:

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Beyond-The-Garden-Gate-Shari-Bithell

Happy Sleuthing!  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Week Idea #2 - Multicultural Feast

Share Our Cultures - Share Our Favorite Foods!

Rather than try to compete with Thanksgiving, I like my class to share their very favorite family foods with the class.  After all, isn't that what the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians did in 1621?  This first Thanksgiving was a celebration of the Pilgrim's first successful harvest, after the Indians had shared their knowledge of local crops.  This first feast was truly a blending of the foods of two very different cultures.

Our annual feast is a wonderful display of the best in people.  There is always an overabundance of food, prepared with love by mothers, grandmothers, and even the students themselves!  Sharing these delicious foods is special enough, but we don't stop there.  Prior to the feast, students share a five slide Power Point slideshow that they have created to introduce the class to their offering.  The students learn how to insert pictures, WordArt, and text boxes to create their own computer presentation.  

Power Point Slideshow:

• Slide 1:  Picture of the food and name of the food
• Slide 2:  Picture name of the culture that this food originated from
• Slide 3:  Ingredients (This is important for students with food allergies or religious concerns)
• Slide 4:  Picture of this food set on a table with a caption that shows us whether it is a main dish, side dish, or dessert
• Slide 5:  Family story that relates to this food.  (This is the best part - these stories are heartwarming and funny)  

I tell the students about the special cranberry recipe that my family always makes for Thanksgiving.  It has to be made just right, with double the oatmeal topping! Yum! One year, Aunt Mary changed the recipe!  Gasp!  She left off the topping and added orange to the cranberries!  Horror of horrors!  No one has yet gotten over it, and that must have been about 12 years ago!  Every year someone says, "Remember the year that Aunt Mary changed the cranberry recipe?"  Aunt Mary has been gone for about 5 years now, but her legacy lives on! - Check back to this blog on Friday, and I will share my family's favorite cranberry recipe!  It is truly worth the trip back!  Yum, but don't leave off the topping!

Once I get the thinking going, the students have so much to say, but I make them save it for their presentations!

Our Annual Multicultural Feast Truly is a "Taste of Harmony!"

And it's Fun Too!